


Things You Said

by Loki_ate_my_pudding



Category: Chernobyl (TV 2019)
Genre: Other Additional Tags to Be Added, some happy, some sad, various drabbles
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-17 09:01:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28722540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Loki_ate_my_pudding/pseuds/Loki_ate_my_pudding
Summary: Based off the "Things You Said" prompts on Tumblr, but make it Valoris!
Relationships: Valery Legasov/Boris Shcherbina
Comments: 1
Kudos: 16





	Things You Said

**Author's Note:**

> Howdy! I couldn't be more excited to be creating these drabbles for everyone to enjoy, and I can't wait to see what other prompts I get! Enjoy!

_/We love a "Chernobyl disaster never happened so our boys can live happily" AU, or, Boris is the instructor of the University Valery teaches at./_

_Things you said with no space between us._

Russia was, without a single doubt in his mind, cold in the winter. 

It always was, and it always had been, and while Valery tried to convince himself that it didn't _really_ bother him, he always found himself miserable when the news reported that the high was only -6 C. He really should've grown accustomed to it, after living in Tula as a child, then Moscow as an adult. He shouldn't care as much as he did. 

Yet he still complained to his cat in the morning. He grumbled about how "We should move somewhere warm." He laced up his shoes. "It's fucking cold and I've about had it this year," He tied a scarf around his neck. "You don't even care, you sit in a warm bed all day, huh. Yeah. Stay cozy while I pay all the bills." 

He slipped out his door, locking it behind him as he shivered in his coat, making his way to his car for work. 

While he did like to complain to his cat about the weather, He would never complain to Boris about it. The tall man, too tense for his own good would surely instruct him to "suck it up" or something along those lines, they had never really established great relationship, which definitely was unsurprising to Valery. He was just a chemistry professor, not high up in the board enough to get the attention of Boris. Maybe words in passing, occasional teaching assessments, here and there, but nothing in the way Valery wished it to be. 

He found his way into Valery's mind when he needed to have it on other things. Infested it, almost, daunting on the few times there was just a little _something_ Valery could've sworn he felt around Boris. It could've been there, but likely was not. 

The university 's parking lot had never given assigned parking to the teachers, rolling with the general first come first serve to every space in the lot, and Valery could've screamed when all the closest spots were occupied by his co-workers cars. Maybe it was just one little bad thing, that the whole day surely couldn't be shitty just because of parking. He grumbled again as he slammed his car door shut, walking a few feet before feeling his pocket for his keys to his class and of course, the one place they needed to be, they were not. 

Valery decided that it was, indeed, a bad day. 

He made his way to the office, looking borderline exhausted as he looked at the secretary, her hands clacking away at the keyboard of her computer. She looked up and smiled at him. "Good morning, Valery, how are you today?" She asked him, he smiled weakly back.

"I'd be a lot better if I had keys to my classroom, Lyudmila." He said, looking at her hopefully. She chuckled at him, getting up from her chair and taking a few steps towards the back room before turning around with a frown. 

"You know what? I think Leonid just took the spare set to his room, let me ask Mr. Shcherbina if he has some." She winked at him, going to a different room and knocking softly on the door. Valery felt himself wobble a little, cursing Lyudmila for being such a terribly good wingman. She spoke a bit when the door cracked open, but Valery tried to not listen. He was sure the tall man would tell her to have Valery go get the other set from Leonid.

He could hear Boris say something, and the door shut. Lyudmila turned and came back to Valery with a wide smile, sitting back down in her chair. "He'll be right with you." 

Valery sputtered for a second, looking at her with wide eyes. "Lyudmi-" He stopped as the door opened, Boris standing with his usual perfectly tailored suit, a frown set on his face. Valery was sure he'd only seen Shcherbina smile one time, when a student gave him a piece of chocolate and the tall man joked about how he "really shouldn't, I'm on a diet." but ate it anyway. 

Valery followed him as he opened the door to the hall, hesitant to speak at all. "Rough morning?" Boris asked, keys jingling in his hand as he walked towards Valery's class. 

"Y-you could say that," Valery said, praying that his nerves weren't evident in his voice.

"We all have them, Professor." Boris said, a slight laugh in his voice, "You're just lucky you caught me on a day I wasn't flooded with paperwork. A good day, you could say." 

Valery smiled slightly at that, thinking about the smile Boris might've had on his face, only if he could see it. "I am, I would've had to drive back to my apartment to get my keys. I'd miss first lecture." 

Boris looked back at him for a second, eyebrows raised. "You'd be upset to miss a class?" He asked incredulously. Valery nodded. "Most teachers would be happy to miss it." 

"I like to teach." Valery said softly, following Boris up the stairs. He knew his class was coming up, but he wished it was miles away, just to keep this good moment for a few minutes more. 

"Huh, glad we employed someone who's happy with their profession." Boris said, fumbling with his keys to find Valery's. He unlocked the door, opening it wide for Valery, but not quite stepping out of the way. "Anyway, all yours, Valery, I do hope you enjoy first lecture." 

Valery smiled at him, nodding once and waiting for him to move. He didn't. Valery hesitantly slipped past the instructor, holding his briefcase to his chest. Boris smiled at him as he turned around, waving a quick goodbye at Valery before shutting the door behind him. Valery stared at the door for a few seconds, relishing in the smile Shcherbina had given him. He set his briefcase down, and started to log into his computer. Reaching into his pocket for his pack of gum, he pulled it out, a slip of paper falling to the floor. He looked down at it with curious eyes. 

_"Just call me if you need anything :) xxx-xxx-xxxx"_

And Valery taught all day, fully flustered.

When Valery had finally finished grading student's papers, he made his way back home, the piece of paper tucked into his pocket. He smiled at the very thought of it.

He smiled until he unlocked his door and stepped inside his house, it felt no more warm than the streets did. He frowned deeply, instantly making his way to the thermostat on the wall. He groaned loud, almost on the verge of tears as it refused to road anything he did to it. Of course. The coldest night of the year, and his fucking heater breaks. 

Valery rooted through his closets, only finding one smaller space heater. He grumbled, pulling it across the floor and aiming it at his bed. He plugged it, and this time, he screamed in frustration when it didn't turn on. He sat down on his bed, puling every blanket he owned onto of himself without even taking off his work clothes. He sighed, his unbelievable spout of terrible luck seemingly never-ending. 

He then pondered on calling Boris. 

The note was kind, he did say "anything" and while needing heat did in fact fall under anything, there was very little for Boris to actually do on the matter. Valery weighed out his options, crawled out of his cold bed, and stood in front of his landline wall phone for about twenty minutes before calling Boris. Three rings, and a gruff voice carried through the receiver, "Shcherbina."

"Boris? I'm so sorry I'm bothering you again today, I know I really shouldn't overstep-" Valery rambled, about ready to hang up the phone and move out of town forever out of embarrassment until Boris responded. 

"No need for any sort of apology, Valery, what can I do for you?" He sounded kind. A whole different tone that Valery had never heard leave Boris' mouth. It made his chest feel soft, like it could gush right out of him. 

"Well, I'm not sure if you particularly can but my heater's just broken, on the coldest night of the season!" Valery cried, trying to hold in the tears of frustration. He hated to think of that, that he, an adult man, cried when he was frustrated. He hated it, almost as much and the agony of embarrassment he felt over calling Boris to help him fix his broken heater. 

"No problem, I'll be over as soon as I can." And Valery stood there shell shocked until he heard a knock on his door. He rushed to open it, standing in front of Boris, shivering while snow fell onto the top of Boris' hat. He quickly let him inside, apologizing again for the inconvenience. "I'd offer you to take off your coat, but, well," 

Boris hushed him, asking him where his heater was. The two spent hours trying to fix the broken machine, finally getting it to kick on and start pumping Valery's home with heat. "I'm sorry, again, Mr. Shcherbina, I really didn't mean-" 

"Hush, Valera, it's really no issue at all. And don't call me that, we're not at the university now." Boris smiled at him, still speaking in the kind tone that made Valery soft, but now with a nickname. 

"Well at least let me make dinner? You've helped me an awful lot, I hate to not repay you," Valery started, only for Boris to cut him off with a sharp, "You haven't eaten?"

Valery shook his head, then glanced at the watch on his wrist. He frowned a little, realizing it had already reached nine. "Well, damn. No dinner then." He mumbled, only for Boris to cut him off again. 

"Ah! No, stop that. Of course dinner. I'll cook something, you go get warm. Can't skip meals, Valera, it's not good for your health." Boris said firmly, his kind tone gone now, replaced with one as if he was speaking to one of the students. Valery looked up at him, and Boris softened a bit. "I apologize, but you really shouldn't skip meals. We can't afford to lose our best teacher in the university now, can we?" 

Valery went silent, until finally agreeing. The two returned to the kitchen, Boris rummaging through Valery's fridge, making himself right at home. It made Valery almost nervous how easily he did, almost as if he'd been inside his home before, like he knew where things would be, though he still had to ask where pots and pans were kept. Valery smiled. It was almost domestic, maybe it was just in his dreams as per usual, holding to the spare glances Boris sent him in the halls, but this was different. He was in his home, he was cooking dinner for hi at nine pm, he was looking out of the shorter man. It made Valery weak in the knees. 

"Why are you not wrapped in a blanket right now?" Boris asked him as if it was the simplest question in the world. Valery looked at him with a weird look. "It's still cold in here, you need to get warm or you'll catch cold." 

Valery swallowed and nodded, retrieving a knitted blanket from his couch and returning, wrapping it around his shoulders as Boris cooked. When the food was done, he ate it with a smile, almost choking on how amazing it was. Boris hadn't left, which made Valery feel warmer than he really was. "You're the cook of the century, Boris, this is amazing." He said quietly, taking another bite. Boris chuckled softly, smiling himself. 

"I'm glad to hear you like it, I never cook for other people so I wasn't sure how good it was. I just eat it." The two laughed softly, and as Valery finished the meal, he stood, putting his dish in the sink.He glanced at the calendar that hung on his wall, smiling that the day was a Friday. 

"Thank you so much for the food, and for helping me fix my heater. How can I repay you?" Valery said.

Boris smiled at him, but shook his head. "No need, Valera. You don't need to repay me." He said, standing from his chair and crossing the room to Valery. "But it is still a bit cold in here. You're sure the heater's working?" 

"Well, it should be. It doesn't usually get too warm in here whether it's working or not." Valery replied. "Do you, maybe wanna like, I don't know, watch a movie? Or a TV show? I'm sure we can find something good to watch."

Valery had never felt so much anxiety inside him in that moment. Boris had shown no signs of wanting to leave, so why not? He'd taken the leap of faith he'd never been able to take before. 

"Why not?" Boris asked with a smile, watching with a smile as Valery let out the nervousness with a sigh and trailed off, dragging the blanket behind him, to the couch. 

The two sat, Valery on one end, and Boris in the middle. He flicked the television on, dodging between channels, trying to find something good. Boris was right, though, the home had not grown any warmer since the heater had been fixed. He shivered under the blanket as he switched channels, finally stopping on something he and Boris had agreed on. They stayed that way for only a few minutes, before Boris spoke up again. Valery felt his heart catch in his throat. 

"You're still freezing, Valera, come." Boris shed his coat off of one arm, holding it out. Valery was frozen in anxiety, the reality of the situation crashing down on him. He was sure he was taking this the wrong way. All of this. The note, the dinner, and now this. "Come now, I won't bite you." 

He slowly but surely made his way towards Boris, tucking himself under the larger man's arm. Boris was right, though. It was a nice coat, heavy, for it kept Boris' body very warm. The arm came down around his shoulders, the blanket still around him as Boris pulled the side of his coat over him as well. Now, Valery felt himself start to warm up, at least a little bit, and with no space between them at all, he whispered, "Would you like to stay here tonight?" 

He had done it. Overstepped the boundaries to the max, and he knew it. Fully aware of his mistakes, Valery went to pull back until Boris' arm kept him in place. 

"I would love to, Valera." He said, in a tone softer than Valery had ever heard before. He instantly relaxed, no longer tense at all under Boris' strong arm, and before he knew it, the other one curled around him as well. "You still feel awfully cold." 

Valery shrugged a bit, the tiredness now dawning on him. "I'm alright, Borja." He said quietly, almost as if this truly _was_ domestic. 

He wasn't aware of when he'd fallen asleep, but when he woke up, he was next to Boris, curled up still against his chest, the arms still there, only now under the covers in his bed, no longer wearing their heavy coats. "Valera, you're awake." Boris' voice was gravely, and he wondered if he'd just woken up, too. 

He snuggled impossibly closer, listening to Boris' heart beat against his chest. "You stayed." He said, barely a whisper, like he couldn't believe it. 

"I'll always stay." 

_The things you said with no space between us._


End file.
